The Phils continue to struggle at home. Charlie Manuel thinks maybe the fans are being too easy on the World Champs. He’d kind of like to see the “phanatics” – no, not the big, furry green one with the capital P – turn up the heat a bit.

Can you imagine Andy Reid saying that? “Uh, injuries. Our pride. Our egos. The fans really ought to let us have it. Time’s yours.”

The Phils fell to the Marlins last night, 6-2. That makes them just 9-14 in the friendly confines of Citizens Bank Park this year, while they are a league best 16-6 on the road.

In the process they lost their hold on first place. The Mets leap-frogged them after beating the Nationals and are now up by a half game.

But the Phils may have lost much more than that. Starter Brad Myers left the game in the sixth with a sore hip. To that point he had surrendered five runs on seven hits, including, of course, two more home runs.

Myers is due to have an MRI on his hip today. The result of that exam could heat up the talks for Padres starter Jake Peavey. And some big names could be involved in those talks, including center-fielder Shane Victorino.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if the fans take Manuel up on his offer.

Then again, maybe the best news the Phils have today is that the lowly Nationals arrive for weekend set Friday night.